Written Answers

Friday 13 October 2000

Scottish Executive

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-3791 and S1W-5730 by Susan Deacon on 21 January 2000 and 27 April 2000 respectively, whether it will reconsider its policy on the use of Taxane drugs for the treatment of advanced breast cancer and, in the light of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines offered to the NHS which recommended that such patients be offered either Taxotere or Taxol in their treatment, whether the Executive will issue similar guidelines to the NHSiS.

Susan Deacon: Taxol and Taxotere are available on the NHS in Scotland and the use of these drugs depends on the clinical judgment of the specialists concerned, informed by any advice issued by their local Drug and Therapeutic Committees.

  The NICE advice is available to the NHS in Scotland. It will be for the Health Technology Board for Scotland to consider whether they wish to issue further advice directly to the NHS in Scotland.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of Community Learning Scotland since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.

Peter Peacock: I have formally met representatives of Community Learning Scotland (CLS) on three occasions since 1 June 1999.

  On 1 October last year I attended a Board meeting to discuss a range of issues on community learning.

Finance

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what categories of expenditure have been (a) excluded from and (b) added, since the inception of the Barnett formula, to the items of comparable expenditure which make up the base figure to which the Barnett formula is applied in order to calculate the annual changes in allocations to the Scottish assigned budget.

Mr Jack McConnell: Comparability percentages apply at the departmental level, changes in comparabilities reflect changes in coverage and similarity of Whitehall department’s expenditure. Annex C of the revised Statement of Funding Policy published on 18 July 2000 provides details of the comparabilities. Prior to devolution this information was not published by the Treasury.

Genetically Modified Crops

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has regarding the European Commission’s progress on proposals to deal with the accidental contamination of non-genetically modified seed with genetically modified seed.

Ross Finnie: The Commission has recently published interim measures on the adventitious presence of genetically modified seed in non-genetically-modified seed. I have arranged for copies of the Commission measures to be available in SPICe.

  The key elements of the interim measures are:

  testing will apply to seeds of beet, maize, rapeseed, soya bean, cotton and tomatoes for processing, where GM presence is suspected. Member states are free to test other species;

  a zero threshold will apply to GM material which is not covered by an EU authorisation under Part C of Directive 90/220/EEC;

  a 0.5% threshold will apply to GM material which is covered by an EU authorisation under Part C of Directive 90/220/EEC;

  the measures apply to seeds which have been produced in the Community and to seeds from third world countries.

  These measures will operate until the Commission’s legislative proposals to amend the various seeds marketing directives are promulgated. This is likely to take some time as the matter is a complex one involving the need to establish an appropriate methodology and testing arrangements. It is also necessary to take account of the implications for exporting countries and of the need to have a regime that is capable of enforcement. We have an assurance from Commissioner Byrne that he will act without undue delay and as soon as the Commission’s legislative proposals are available we shall put these out for public consultation.

Health

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list each study, consultation and report commissioned by the Minister for Health and Community Care, specifying in each case the date of publication or expected publication and the date made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Susan Deacon: I commission a wide range of studies, consultations and reports to assist in the development of both policy and services. The full details of published documents are available through the Scottish Executive website or from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Justice

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Deputy First Minister’s announcement on 27 September 2000 regarding the justice budget, what share of (a) the £165 million extra for local authorities for funding policing and (b) the £93 million extra for central government funding for police will be allocated to Greenock and Inverclyde.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information is not yet available. The provisional local government settlement allocations to individual councils will be announced in December.

Land Reform

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3940 by Ross Finnie on 8 February 2000, what progress has been made with the European Union over the imposition of penalties arising under the Integrated Administration and Control System, with particular regard to proportionality.

Ross Finnie: The penalties arising from claims made under the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) are set down in the EC Regulations. As I indicated following my statement on 4 October, outlining the EU Subsidies Appeals Procedure, I have been pressing the issue of proportionality of penalties at UK level. Officials are currently in discussion with other EU member states who share the UK’s concerns. It is expected that these discussions will result in the French presidency preparing a paper on the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy, to include our own and the presidency’s ideas on proportionality of penalties for consideration by the European Commission.

Meningitis C

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many notified cases of meningitis C have been reported in Scotland so far during 2000 and how many were notified in the comparable periods in 1998 and 1999.

Susan Deacon: To 1 September 2000, 52 cases of group C Neisseria meningitidis had been confirmed by sero-typing by the Scottish Meningococcal & Pneumococcal Reference Laboratory (SMPRL). This compared to 49 and 71 such cases between 1 January and 1 September in 1998 and 1999 respectively.

  The quality of samples does not allow a confirmed serogroup to be obtained for all isolates and in such cases SMPRL make projections based on the established proportions of typed cases to estimate the total numbers of cases attributable to each serogroup. Using such projections, the estimated numbers of Group C cases between 1 January and 1 September in 1998,1999 and 2000 are 122, 120 and 95 respectively.

Nursing

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to raise the number of infection control nurses in Scotland to the internationally recommended figure of one per 250 beds in the light of the increase in cases of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureas in recent years.

Susan Deacon: Data on the number of infection control nurses is not collected separately by ISD Scotland, since they are included under general nursing.

Pig Industry

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was consulted by Her Majesty’s Government about the use of a welfare scheme as opposed to the EU market support scheme to compensate pig farmers in connection with the recent outbreak of classical swine fever.

Ross Finnie: In view of the relative scale of the outbreak of classical swine fever, there is little likelihood that EC market support arrangements would have been appropriate in this case.

  The Scottish Executive was informed by MAFF of its Minister’s decision to provide financial support for his East Anglian pig farmers on animal welfare grounds.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any decisions taken by the Scottish Qualifications Authority in relation to this year’s exams were mistaken and, if so, which decisions.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The independent inquiry which I have commissioned will determine what caused the problems with the production and issue of this year’s exam results and how these can be avoided in future.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether more markers will be needed if any difficulties encountered in the marking of this year’s examination papers are to be avoided next year and, if so, what arrangements should be put in place to ensure that persons with sufficient skill and experience to act as markers are recruited next year and whether greater resources will be needed.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The recruitment of markers is an operational issue for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. However, the independent inquiry into this year’s exam results which I have commissioned will look at recruitment of markers and will make recommendations about how the procedures should operate in future.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the work of markers in this year’s exams has been checked adequately and, if not, what failures it has identified.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I have confidence in the professional judgment of those who undertook the marking of scripts this year. The Scottish Qualifications Authority have long-established quality assurance procedures for the marking process. The inquiry, which I have commissioned, will determine whether they were applied fully and correctly this year and make recommendations about how quality assurance on marking should operate in future.

Scottish University for Industry

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set learndirect scotland, the Scottish University for Industry.

Henry McLeish: I have set   learndirect scotland   the following targets for the period from 16 October 2000 to 31 March 2002. I will be monitoring performance and will review the appropriateness of the performance measures and level of future targets in the light of experience. I will welcome views on future targets.

  


Strategic Objectives


Performance Measures


Key Targets




Demand:
To stimulate participation in lifelong 
learning.


Number of enquiries to learndirect 
scotland information services.
Number of hits on learndirect 
scotland website.
Number of learndirect scotland 
learners:
-returners to learning
 
-new learners


Increase the average annual number 
of helpline calls from 26,000 (1998-99) to 120,000 by 2001-02.
300,000 average annual hits by 2001-02.
 
30,000 of which 15,000 in social 
inclusion areas and 5,000 in SMEs.
20,000 of which 8,000 in social inclusion 
areas and 4,000 in SMEs.




Information & Advice:
To provide impartial, helpful and 
effective information and advice on learning.


Customer satisfaction.
 
 
Up to date, comprehensive learning 
opportunities database.


Overall quality of service rated 
good or very good by 90% of enquirers (1998-99 – 88%), by 2001-02.
95 % of entries reliable.




Learning:
To facilitate provision of appropriate 
learning centres, materials and support.


Number and distribution of learndirect 
scotland branded learning centres.
Gaps in ICT based learning materials 
addressed.
Appropriate level of support for 
learners.


300 active branded centres for learning, 
of which 100 in social inclusion areas.
By March 2002 appropriate packages 
available to address identified gaps.
90% of all learning centre facilitators 
with relevant level 3 or more qualifications, of which 25% of 
all with SVQ level 4 in supported learning.




Learning Technologies:
To facilitate ICT based learning 
to improve access and experience.


Number of learners undertaking learndirect 
scotland supported ICT learning.


5,000 learners by March 2002.




Funding:
Income generation.


Reduce dependency on public funding.


Plans in place to raise income for 
an increasing % of funding needs in 2002-03 onwards.




  Definitions:

  1. ‘learndirect scotland learners’ will include:

  -registered learners who take advantage of the full learndirect scotland supported environment (tracking systems, learner support systems etc); and

  -learners who are directly placed by learndirect scotland on appropriate courses which may be outwith the learndirect scotland supported environment.

  2. ‘new learners’ are individuals who have not been involved in any formal learning since leaving school.

  3. ‘returners to learning’ are individuals who have previously been involved in post-school learning.

Sexual Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to take action in relation to the increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in the Chief Medical Officer’s report 1999 Health in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: I have already announced my intention to develop a sexual health strategy for Scotland, which will have as one goal the improved sexual health of young people in Scotland.

  Presently, work is under way on a number of fronts to promote good sexual health, particularly among young people. Progress is being made on the demonstration project Healthy Respect which will be led by a team from Lothian Health. This project will receive £3 million over a three-year period to develop best practice in the promotion of sexual health, in particular, the avoidance of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV infection and chlamydia. The project will enable us to identify and promote good practice throughout Scotland. It is expected the project will be launched in November.

  The Executive is also providing funding of £150,000 to set up four new Brook Advisory Centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Falkirk. These new centres will provide a range of advice and support on sexual health, specifically to young people. Encouraging teenagers to think seriously about the consequences and responsibilities of sexual relationships also forms an important part of the HEBS’ award-winning "Think About It" mass media campaign.

  The report of the HIV Health Promotion Strategy Review Group will be published in October. The report will stimulate the re-invigoration of prevention efforts at local level.

  I recently announced plans for the use of the £26 million Health Improvement Fund and sexual health is one of the areas I have commended to boards for the use of these funds.